Istanbul’s Jews Mourn Those Who ‘Came to Pray’

Members of Istanbul’s Jewish community gathered Sunday in small groups on the sidewalks outside Neve Shalom Synagogue on Buyuk Hendek Street to commemorate the scarred building in the old neighborhood and those who were killed there.

Standing in doorways and on nearby cobbled alleyways on the day after a terrorist attack killed 21 worshipers in the synagogue, they talked about what happened.

“My father came to pray, and he died for it,” one woman said, weeping openly. “There is nothing else to explain.”

“In my neighborhood, most of the Jewish people stayed inside today. They were scared,” said Sami Kohen, a 32-year-old businessman.

Rafael Sadi, a toy importer, protested that “since the Jews left Spain in 1492, this is the first Jewish blood spilled in Turkey. There has been no country where Jews have been so free and happy.”

A day after the raid, the authorities appeared no closer to identifying the two attackers, who also died in the raid.

The two men, who were said by witnesses to have spoken Arabic, entered the synagogue during Sabbath prayers, fired automatic weapons at the worshipers and then detonated three hand grenades.

Turkish Prime Minister Turgut Ozal told reporters there did not appear to be a Libyan connection, but he said there may be some ties between the gunmen and Lebanon. A number of Middle Eastern groups claimed responsibility for the attack.

At a Sunday news conference in the building next door to the synagogue, Jak Veissid, president of the council of advisers to Istanbul’s head rabbi, called the raid a “blind terroristic act.”

Veissid said funerals for the dead worshipers will be held Wednesday at the synagogue.

“We are in a very sad situation, but nothing has changed in our daily life,” he said. “We are sure the government and security forces will do everything necessary” to protect the Jewish community.

First Use After Renovation

He said that the building, the largest synagogue in Istanbul, had just been renovated and that Saturday’s service was the first use of it after the renovation.

Asked if the Jewish community here feels close allegiance to Israel, he replied: “As does every Jew in the world.”

The raid focused unusual attention on the city’s Jewish population, estimated at 20,000, most of them descended from Sephardic Jews who fled here from Spain during the Inquisition of the 15th Century.

The Buyuk Hendek area was once the center of Jewish life in Istanbul, but most of the younger, more affluent Jews have moved away to more comfortable suburbs such as Sisli.

Most of the worshipers at the synagogue on Saturday were over 60 years of age.

Under Turkey’s secular rule, most of Istanbul’s Jews have assimilated. “I would say it’s integration, really,” said Sami Kohen, a Jew who is a senior editor of the newspaper Milliyet.

Ladino, the ancient Spanish dialect spoken by older members of the community, is dying out, and many Jews rarely, if ever, attend services. There are only 15 functioning synagogues in the city.

The reaction to the raid here in Turkey, a country with an overwhelmingly Muslim population, has been illustrative: Thousands of telegrams of condolence have been sent for the victims of the attack.

Secular State

As Kohen explained it, the Turks first of all deplore terrorism because they have been the targets of Armenian terrorist attacks for decades. They also deplore the synagogue attack, he said, because it was a house of worship and those killed were Turks.

“I don’t think there will be an adverse effect on the community from this raid,” Kohen said. “On the contrary, we’re already seeing closer relations between the authorities and the Jewish community.”

Turkey is officially a secular state, but Islamic parties function here. Saturday’s raid most likely has caused the government to wonder if local fundamentalists might have helped the gunmen at some point in their plan.

The last similar act was the 1972 kidnaping and slaying of the Israeli consul general here. But that occurred at a time of great political upheaval in Turkey and was directed against the state of Israel rather than the local Jewish community.

Standing outside the synagogue Sunday, holding his 8-year-old son’s hand, Rafael Sadi surveyed the damage and said: “That’s the Jewish life, the Jewish destiny.”